Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of An Impolite Seduction (The Countess Trilogy #2) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Oct 09

I’m not above admitting that even when the characters may not hold a lot of appeal, that good writing will keep me coming back for more.  Such is the case with Alison Richardson’s latest Spice Briefs short story, the second in her Countess Trilogy, and the second story to feature the lusty young widow Countess Anna von Esslin.

It’s been three years since the events The Countess’s Client, and Anna has traveled to the English countryside to help her young cousin Charlotte.  Charlotte, the poor ignorant chit, has gone and gotten engaged to a rather dull and priggish Viscount.  Worse still?  The girl is still a virgin!  Determined to set about properly educating the girl (oh, and to attend the wedding), Anna is expecting a rather tiresome visit.  It gets unexpectedly complicated though when she discovers that James McKirnan is her cousin-in-law’s neighbor.  Having ended their affair three years ago in Paris, amid quite a bit of scandalous whispering, Anna is not very happy to see him.  However James has moved up in the world, and is determined to make Anna his – by whatever means necessary.

The problems I had with the first short story in this trilogy are still evident here.  Anna is still an insufferable snob and for the life of me I can’t figure out what James sees in her, other than she’s a spectacular lay and she’s playing hard to get.  James continues to be an uneasy mix – one moment charming and likeable, the next an intolerable jackass.  I’m still trying to figure out why I should care about what happens to either of these two.

Which probably leaves you, gentle review reader, wondering why the heck I read this story when the continuing characters didn’t gel for me the first time around.  Well, I’ll tell you.  Richardson has a delicious writing style.  Anna is, on one hand, all about societal class structure and her station in it, and on the other hand, deliciously scandalous.  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at several moments over the course of this story, ranging from Anna’s opinion on why men seem to prize virginal brides so much (two words: performance anxiety) and how she wriggles out of a sticky situation at the end of this tale.

I’m still not willing to shout from the roof-tops and recommend these stories wholeheartedly, but darn if the writing style and Anna’s scandalous lifestyle don’t keep me coming back for more.  It’s like a trashy night-time soap opera set in Victorian times.  No wonder I’m hooked.

Grade: C

Summary:

“There is nothing in the world less appealing than a chaste young man.”

At least that’s the opinion of Countess Anna von Esslin, who is shocked to learn her cousin has gotten engaged without a single taste of passion. But while the Countess arranges her cousin’s seduction, she is also reunited with James McKirnan, a man intent on seducing her. And James is certainly far from chaste…

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Other books in this series: